It had been about two weeks since Joe had started and it had been busy between early mornings, late nights and everything in between from meetings to deadlines that had to be met. He had seen Audrey working nonstop it seemed, and handling it all like a pro with little to no complaints, all while preparing for a trip to Scotland in a few days for a convention with some people from her company that were going to be going along with her. Walking to the kitchen, he saw Audrey fixing herself a plate of the food that was made earlier for dinner. She had her long hair in a braid and wearing a plain grey t-shirt with black pants. Audrey turned her head and saw Joe standing at the entrance to the kitchen, wearing a black shirt with jeans and sneakers. His dark hair in a neat bun, and his hands in his pockets.
"Did you have some already?" She asked.
"No, not yet." He replied.
He watched as she put her plate in the microwave and started warming it up. "You can if you want. Maggie made enough spaghetti and chicken for a football team before she left."
Audrey watched as he seemed to think about it, before coming in the rest of the way and serving himself a plate. Looking at her phone, she notices the time and sees how late it has gotten. It was almost 9 o'clock at night and she was just now getting around to eating. She was tired and wanted to sleep, but she wanted to finish as much work as she could before her trip so that she didn't have to worry about it while she was gone.
"You don't have to wait for me to eat dinner." Audrey softly says as she takes her plate out of the microwave and moves over so that Joe could put his plate in.
"I know, but I guess I wanted to have a reason to finally get to talk to you." He replies.
Joe was usually the last one of the group to go home. Always making sure that everything was okay before leaving, even though he knew she made sure all of the alarms were put on before everyone left and knowing that she had also access to the cameras and knew what to do to call for help in the event something happened when she was alone.
"You could always talk to me." Audrey softly says, looking at him.
Joe was now standing a few feet away from her instead of the other side of the kitchen. They looked at each other and held their gaze. Though it was only for a few moments, it almost felt like an eternity. After their gaze broke, Audrey sat at the island and waited for Joe who joined her a few minutes later.
"Sometimes I feel like I don't know what to say." He says. "Or I have all these things that I know I want to say and ask, but where I don't know how."
"I see how it can be difficult in a way." Audrey says, before taking a bite of her spaghetti. "Our encounter was very brief, but significant enough to where it lasted this long in our memories. At one point, I thought I would never see you again. That maybe it was just some chance encounter. Something that I needed to happen that day."
"I think maybe we both needed it that day." Joe says, drinking some water.
They looked at each other once more, and their gazes held. Her green eyes didn't look so sad anymore. Unless it was still there, present as ever, and she was just able to hide it and hold herself together in such a way that one could no longer tell.
"Where did you go after that day?" She asked. "Did you stay here in England?"
Joe took a deep breathe as he took a bite of his food. "I stayed here in England about one more month before going back home to the States. I had been traveling a bit for the company that I was working with at the time and I was happy with them at the time. They had taken good care of me and it was the first company that I worked with."
"So what happened that you went back home?" Audrey asked.
"I wasn't sure anymore of what I wanted at the time." He replied. "I played football my whole life and went to college on a scholarship for it. Majored in business, but I still had intentions and maybe even hope that I would be able to make it in the big leagues. But when that didn't work out, I got into this security thing and I actually ended up liking it. With training, I got very good at it. But at the time I was homesick and unmotivated. I thought maybe going home would do me some good. How about you? From what I know, you started college early?"
Audrey nodded as she got some more spaghetti and warmed it up. "Yeah, I started at university when I was 15 for computer science and finished a few months after we met. I've always been good with computers and thought it would be a good idea to try a career with something I'm good at. When I was old enough to work, I started part-time and some tech places that would hire me for very basic stuff that were allowed to let me do. I would take that opportunity to learn everything I could, computer and tech wise. Little by little, I would get my certifications, but it was hard to get that experience. Some was because of my age. Someone once said that they thought i would be better suited for being a housewife or doing something outside of tech. Just because I'm a female, that doesn't mean that I'm incapable of being great, love."
Joe looked over at her and saw a spark in her eyes. He remembered that feeling that he had when he first saw her. He saw something in her that let him know she was something special. They spent another two hours talking about some of their favorite movies and shows before Joe had left for the night. Though she was tired and wanted the sleep that she needed, she didn't want him to leave. Audrey felt like they were just now getting the chance to get to know each other, when they both believed at one point that they would never see each other again. It was as if they were getting a second chance at something. What that something was, she didn't know.